
S: 



-VS: 






IT' 

A'- 



*t.~- ■ > 



■fX^^^l 



,ir-. 



^-!2^' 






..'^'' 
/;-■,; 

/^:^i-^- 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



% 



Chap. 
Shelf 






IN TENEBKIS: A POEM, 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL CONTENTION, 



OP THE 



ilk ^si*Jfratern% 



AT 



COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, DECEMBER 6, 1859. 



BY 



OH^S. F. :^USSEL, 



3^ 



OF NEW YORK. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. 



COLUMBIA, S. C: 

STEAM-POWER PBESS OF C- P. PELHAM. 



1860. 




COKRESPONDENCE 



South Carolina College, Feb. 1, 1860. 
Bro. Chas. p. Russel : The undersigned were appointed a Com- 
mittee, at the last Convention, to request of you a copy of the admi- 
rable Poem delivered by you before the Thirteenth Annual Conven- 
tion of the Delta Psi Fraternity, held in Columbia, South Carolina, 
Dec. 6th, 1859. It is with a great deal of pleasure that we discharge 
this duty, and hope that you will gratify the members of the Frater- 
nity by acceding to their request. 

Your brothers, in Delta Psi bonds, 

FRANCIS S. PARKER, Jr., 
J. PETIQRU MELLARD, 
JOHN A. WILSON, 

Committee. 



New York, February 9, 1§60. 
Brethren : I have received your note, soliciting a copy of the 
Poem which I had the honor of delivering before the last Annual 
Convention of our Delta Psi Fraternity. 

Feeling highly complimented by the brethren, as represented by 
your Committee, I take great pleasure in complying with their request. 
Believe me, as ever. 

Your brother in A W bonds, 

CHAS. P. RUSSEL. 
Francis S. Parker, Jr., ") 
J. Petigru Mellard, [■ Committee. 
John A. Wilson, J 



m' 



INTRODUCTION. 



Brethren of the Delta Psi ! well-tried and beloved brothers ! 
Time a written page bas closed, since last we met as now and parted — 
But however brief the year, within the future there are others 
Grlorious with hope and promise to the true and noble-hearted ! 

Here our Mother's summons calls us — the fond sons of her selection — 
Loyal unto her forever, and her generous communion : 
Joined by power of lofty purpose, and the fire of sworn affection : 
Firm as iron bands when welded in indissoluble union ! 

From the land whose rugged form in Winter's cold embrace reposes, 
She hath bade her Northern children unto her maternal bosom, — 
Here, where Winter's youngest breath is soothed with fragrance of 

the roses. 
And his age is all bedecked with many a tender orange-blossom ! 

We, of whom His sometimes said (but falsely) that our frames are 

moulded 
Of a colder clay than that by Southern hot blood animated. 
Come with open arms, and unto sympathetic breasts are folded, 
Till from their hearts to our own one common channel is created. 

Kindred thought, and the refined community of lofty feeling, 
Which together holds mankind in one great fellowship immortal, 
Is ours — but we claim a more exalted privilege, revealing 
Love unselfish, standing like an Angel at the soul's bright portal ! 

Each, affiliated, swears affection unto every other ; 

Swears in sickness to bear comfort — in calamity to cherish — 



INTEODUCTION. 



Ever to be tender, constant, and forgiving, to his brother, 

And defend him 'gainst the Wrong, although self-sacrificed he perish ! 

Hallowed are our obligations, and our duty is unsordid : 
And primordial and pure as God and Truth our springs of action — 
For we know by Love itself Love's recompense is best awarded, 
In its strong inherent faith, and in its unbought satisfaction. 

Unto all about me here, long separated, and now meeting 
For a moment — then to part, some but a year, or some forever, 
Let me offer from a brother's inmost heart a cordial greeting; 
And bear with me awhile, as I unfold my poor endeavor. 



^s^S^ 






M 



iisr te:n"ebiiis 



'Tis an evening in the time 

When the year hath got its prime ; 

When a thousand fruits have burst 

With juices rich, in which immersed 

Sons of pleasure drown their thirst. 

'Tis an evening in the time 

When the year hath got its prime ; 

When the Rustic garners up 

Laboriously each golden drop 

Of wealth o'erspilling Plenty's cup. 

'Tis an evening in the time 

When the year hath got its prime ; 

Scarce a leaf has fallen yet, 

Nor has the hand of Autumn set 

Its seal of yellow and of red 

That glows upon the leaves ere dead. 

'Tis an evening in the time 

When the year hath got its prime : 

When the tired day soon goes, 

Hastening to its early close. 

"^ . m 




Now as the angry sun doth sink 

From off the red horizon's brink, 

Shooting aslant his parting beams 

Through mist that from the rich soil streams, 

His disc huge and distorted seems. 

And as he puts aside his crown 

And glittering raiments, and falls down 

Upon his purple couch, Eve flings 

Across him royal coverings : 

And deftly draws about him close 

His curtains tinted with the rose. 

And leaves him wearied to repose. 

And yet she doth return anon 

Unto his bed to look upon 

His radiant lineaments : and aside 

Drawing the canopy, a tide 

Of splendid lustre from his face 

Doth pour upon her and embrace 

Her form in glory : till her eyes 

Droop their dark lashes to disguise 

Their sudden wonder ; and deep streaks 

Of crimson fire her olive cheeks — 

And quickly with her dusky hand 

She closes in the radiance grand. 



m. 



IN TENEBRIS. 



9 



Then comes tlie Night — the Presence old 

From whose breast the Earth and Heavens rolled ; 

First Chaos called, within whose womb 

Was vast infinity of gloom — 

A void immense, where waves of sound 

Their trembling way had not yet found. 

Then Night and Silence were the same, 

Without a form, without a name. 

But at the Word of God was rent 

This darkness ; and it quick gave vent 

To atoms rolling into space, 

Devoid of shape, nor fixed in place, 

Till, flying each to each, the earth 

And all creation then found birth. 

But as the world in Night's dull breast 

From the beginning had its rest, 

God granted only half the day 

Unto the Sun's resplendent ray. 

The other was on Night bestowed. 

Earth's mother, when she is allowed 

To fold her child in transient sleep. 

And o'er it tender watch to keep 

With myriads of her gleaming eyes 

Flashing upon us from the skies. 



10 IN TENEBRIS. 



Now 'tis the hour succeeding eve, 

When tired mortals first receive 

An earnest of the day's reprieve 

From toil. Art thou a denizen 

Of some metropolis, where men 

Bathe in the artificial light 

Which flares upon the unquiet night ? 

Come where our souls may be alone 

With night and nature, all our own. 

Come with me to my cottage, where 

Some freshness lurks amid the air. 

That, blent with fragrance, comes and goes 

O'er many a flower which round us grows. 

There, raise the casement, and go out 

Upon the balcony about 

My house. Now let our enamoured sight 

Drink in the beauty of the Night. 

Just dark enough to see yon range 

Of purple mountains, sad and strange 

In their uncertainty of form; 

Awhile ago the sunbeams warm 

Of day departing threw a glow 

Of heavenly lustre on their brow. 

'Tis gone, and left no trace to shew 



'gj- 



EST TENEBEIS. 11 



Its glorious pathway paved with gold ! 
But where it disappeared a fold 
Of cloud is hanging grey and cold. 

Soon as the Night invades the skies 
The constellations all uprise — 
No moon to bid their lustre pale 
Behind her thin translucent veil. 
Lo ! in the heavens the Polar Star 
Gleams from its frigid home afar : 
Fixed o'er the Mystery unrevealed, 
That fearless heroes' blood congealed, 
And woman's burning tears have sealed. 
Calmly that piercing Arctic Eye 
Saw Franklin and his comrades die — 
But when a Widow's thrilling cry 
Resounded over all the world, 
And Sympathy's pure sails, unfurled 
By hands undaunted, were outspread 
And consecrated to the Dead, 
Then wept that Star, unmoved of years- 
The pole was whitened with its tears ! 
And tenderly its smile then shone 
Upon the white and silent zone — 



m 

12 IN TEISIEBRIS. 



What saw that lonely orb again? 

What bands of stern and gallant men 

From Briton's sea-encircled isle 

Found consolation in its smile ! 

Plunged fearless through the snow-drifts bright — 

Climbed o'er the ice-berg's dizzy height — 

Suffered disease unknown before, 

Yet agony unflinching bore ; 

And oftimes sinking by the way, 

Died uncomplaining as they lay. 

That star looked down on Eoss and Moore, 

On Saunders, Penny, and McClure — 

On Forsyth, Austin, Eichardson, 

On Kennedy and Collinson 

And Ingleficld — a glorious band 

As ever sailed from England's strand ! 

But from Columbia's foreign shore 

The frozen waves what heroes bore ? 

How did that eye gaze bright and warm 

Upon De Haven's noble form ! 

How did that starry eye shine down. 

While Angels, at the Master's throne, 

Were weaving Kane a martyr's crown ! 

O, mighty sacrifice of life 

^ 



IN TENEBEIS. 13 



Upon the love-shrine of a wife ! 
"Whose incense of affection steals 
Up to God's heart, and thence reveals 
Itself again to earth, refined 
And all-refining, in the mind 
Of men who cherish human kind. 
O, noblest woman of thy race ! 
In whom no time could e'er efface 
Thy dear one's memory ! Tho' thy face 
Has gained deep furrows, and thy hair 
Is silvered o'er with age and care, 
Now is at last thy faithful breast 
By no uncertainty oppressed — 
Bow unto Heaven thy aged head. 
And mourn the unreturning dead : 
Nations shall reverence thee, and Fame 
Bear the deep impress of thy name ! 

See the horizon of the North, 

How glorious where the Bear gleams forth ! 

That fairy form to Childhood's eye, 

The mighty Dipper of the sky. 

Oft when a boy, entranced, amazed 

At its magnificence, I gazed 

. m 



m 

14 IN TENEBRIS. 



For hours upon it, till my sight 

Grew dim in its refulgent light. 

Then ran Imagination wild : 

And, in the fancy of a child, 

I saw a hand gigantic clasp 

That Dipper in its awful grasp ! 

I looked in terror as its cup 

High in the heavens was lifted up — 

Then in a sea of stars immersed 

It fell ; and, with a burning thirst, 

My frightened eyes beheld it drink 

A million worlds within its brink ! 

Then 'twas upraised again to pour 

Its contents with volcanic roar 

Upon the universe — a stream 

Of liquid fire and hissing steam ! 

I shuddered — woke — 'twas but a dream ! 

Nigh unto Ursa Major, lo ! 

Where Bootes and Acturus glow — 

The herdsman leads his dogs among 

The stars' innumerable throng ; 

And as the hounds behind him walk. 

At the Great Bear they snarl and bark. 



IN TENEBRIS. 15 



Next Hercules rears in the West 

His dreadful arm and brawny breast — 

Flies on his burning path, again 

To slay the Lion in his den, 

Or bear from the Hesperides 

The precious bounties of their trees. 

Look how celestial Lyra beams — 

The Harp now silent — yet it seems 

To flash the music which it poured 

When Orpheus touched each quiv'ring cord. 

Next Cygnus comes — the Swan which glides 

Stately through Heaven's milky tides. 

Far in the North King Cepheus stands ; 

His foot upon the pole — his hand 

A sceptre grasping ; he of that band 

Was one, whom Argo bore from Greece 

To Colchis and the golden fleece. 

Near Cepheus, partner of his crown, 

Cassiopeia has her throne ; 

Below, Andromeda, her child, 

Burns with a twinkling radiance mild ; 

Beside her, her Preserver, stands 

Perseus, who bears with gory hands 

The Gorgon's head, upon whose brow 



M 



A thousand writhing serpents glow. 
Now just uprising in the East 
The ancient Aries lifts his breast, 
On whom Chaldean shepherds gazed 
With reverence as he nightly blazed. 
Next, to the South, the Archer bends 
His pliant bow, and oftimes sends 
Meteor arrows, sharp and bright. 
Into the swart breast of the Night. 

But see ! where earth and sky unite 
There steals a soft and glim'ring lighl 
Like the first coming of the morn 
Ere yet the blooming day is bom. 
First the Horizon round it creeps. 
Then climbs up heaven's glittering steeps 
Like midnight thief, whose stealthy tread 
Falls noiseless round his victim's bed. 
Then from the margin of the North 
Faint luminous rays dart quickly forth, 
Shooting their instantaneous beams 
Half o'er the sky, as when red gleams 
Gild some far distant thunder-cloud. 
Whose muffled voice speaks half-aloud. 



IN TENEBEIS. 



17 



Up to the zenitli and among 

The frightened stars, its cloven tongue 

Aurora Borealis darts ! 

Then draws it back, and then upstarts 

More brilliant from its transient rest ! 

As some volcano's slumb'ring breast 

Bursts, with its pent-up forces rife, 

Magnificently into life ! 

Up to the zenith, and among 

The trembling stars that cloven tongue 

Doth lick the firmament, till Night 

On startled pinions wings her flight 

Before that grand and awful light ! 

Now in one universal glare 

The sky is wrapped, and all the air 

Reflects a lurid radiance down, 

Till on th' astonished earth 'tis thrown ; 

And men, with terror stricken dumb. 

Believe the Day of Wrath is come ! 

Lo ! o'er our heads a rosy shade 

Spreads gently — and the stars all fade 

Insensibly, till they are seen 

Just glimmering behind the screen. 

Then comes, anon, a deeper flush 

3 



m m 

18 IN TENEBEIS. 



Of crimson, rendering the blusli 
Of rose intenser ; then a hue 
Of glittering orange, or of blue. 
Flashes upon th' astounded view ! 
Then all the shades prismatic gleam 
In quick succession, till they stream 
Into a halo, through whose rim 
Some modest stars are twinkling dim ! 
Tis as the Hand of God had thrown 
A thousand rainbows into one I 
And bidden this to earth reveal 
His compact with its glorious seal ! 
Now fades the spectacle away, 
And Night once more resumes her sway — 
Again her golden orbs return, 
And with a deeper lustre burn. 

Dost notice yonder how the air 

Is penetrated by a glare 

As from a smouldering furnace ? There, 

Thy home, the mighty city lies. 

Scarce slumbering, with its many eyes 

Of light yet watching, and its breast 

Of adamant, where is no rest. 



^- 



IN TENEBRIS. 19 



Througli the wliole night its myriad tongues 

Of iron shout their clam'rous songs 

From lofty spires — each note to tell 

That Fate into th' unfathomed well 

Of th' illimitable past 

Another drop of time has cast. 

But hist ! methinks their voices grow 

More frequent, hoarse, and sullen now — 

And others, which, were mute before, 

Come booming like tlie distant roar 

Of billows 'gainst a lofty shore. 

And from each hoarsely quiv'ring mouth 

In east and west, in north and south, 

Out to the city's farthest verge. 

Rolls o'er Night's sea the stormy surge 

Of turbulent sound — and the dumb ear 

Of slumber wakens — sudden fear 

Disturbs sweet visions, while tlie clear 

Loud warning of the watchman tells 

The dreadful meaning of the bells. 

Look where waves the glowing brand 

Li fierce Desolation's hand. 

Gleaming in her iron clutch. 

Fatal with its kindling touch ! 



^. 



w~~ m 

20 IN TEKEBRIS. 



Evil spirits she commands. 
Stretch on higli their fiery hands ; 
And betwixt their shining teeth, 
Exultation as they breathe, 
Eoar the flames, and hiss, and seethe. 
Where the loftiest forms of power 
On such huge foundations tower. 
That an earthquake well might prove 
Impotent their strength to move, 
Now those cruel conquerors rend 
Stone from stone, and, savage, bend 
Giant beams, and the huge wall 
Hurl to earth with thund'ring fall. 
Now their fiendish work is done — 
And black crumbling ruins frown 
Where an hour ago appeared 
Palaces that years had reared, 
While the air no more is flushed. 
And the shouts of men are hushed ; 
And up from the fabrics crushed 
The grim, noiseless smoke ascends, 
Till its lofty column rends 
Dark clouds into which it blends. 



m 



IN" TEISTEBRIS. 



21 



How mucli of misery is pent 

In city walls ! What backs are bent, 

Brains racked, souls stifled, feelings cruslied 

By iron weights remorseless pushed 

On feeble frames which chance has thrown 

Irrevocably headlong down ! 

Pale child of Poverty ! the night 

Of circumstance is thine to fight 

Forever, and the golden light 

That streams upon the son of "Wealth 

Is thine to bask in but by stealth ! 

Poor girl, who from the high estate 

Of virtue, inconsiderate. 

Thy innocence to Love gave up, 

And now must drain the bitter cup 

Of Hate and Loathing, thee with might 

Dark Falsehood and Dishonor smite, 

And over thee the horrid night 

Of Ruin flaps its ebon wing. 

As through the crowd its wild cries ring : 

"Room for the Lost, the Lost, Lost Thing ! " 

O, girl! the morning rays will rout 

The shadows of the night without — 

What sun shall pierce thy night of sin ? 



M 



m m 

22 IN TENEBKIS. 

What dawn dispel the night within ? 
O, spotless woman ! pure and chaste 
As a white tablet undefaced ! 
Gaze not disdainfully upon 
The poor degraded fallen one. 
Blush at her errors, if thou must — 
Her weak humanity — ^her trust 
In man ; her sacrifice of all 
To passionate love — her final fall ! 
Thy cheeks reflect her deep disgrace 
As a clear mirror would the face 
Of guilt exhibit, and endure, 
And yet be candid, bright, and pure ! 
But, blushing, pity — for the tip 
Of thy white finger could her lip 
Bufc for a single moment press, 
'Twere sacred as an angel's dress ! 
Pity her frailty — shed some light 
Of sympathy upon her night 
Of Odium, and Scorn, and Slight — 
And it shall be reflected back 
In rays of glory on thy track ! 
Pity her passion — wipe away 
Her stains as only woman may, 
^ ^ 




Until her woman's soul shall shine 
As clear and radiant as thine! 

Turn from the monstrous city, full 
Of sullen murmurs, with no lull, 
And how unlike the sweet repose 
Around us here, that deeper grows 
As every lessening hour goes. 
Awhile ago the cricket's trill 
Shook the dull air with utterance shrill, 
Or Katydids' contentious song 
Broke from their dark retreats among. 
Those plaintive heralds of the night 
Have ceased their ditties to recite — 
And, save the moody owl's fierce hoot. 
Or barking of the restless brute, 
Or night-hawk shrieking from on high. 
Or wind's low whisper, or the sigh 
Of leaves which quiver on the bush. 
Nature in universal hush 
Is now composed — no motion mars 
Th' inactive lull — no discord jars 
The dark tranquillity — no glare 
Dissolves the murky tints of air ; 



m 



24 IN TENEBRIS. 



While the dull hours, with stealthy feet, 
Untold, their solemn round complete. 
There is a quiet on yon town, 
That hill-embosomed nestles down 
In the embrace of swarthy Night. 
There is a rest upon the bright 
Majestic river, whose deep tide 
Kolls into silence as beside 
The rock its fretful waters glide. 

Now the Angel with dreamy eyes, 
Dusk Nepenthe, earthward flies 
Slowly along the shrouded skies. 
Thickly his ebon locks hang down : 
Pressed to his brow is a lotus crown ; 
And his form and noiseless wings are made 
Of misty grey from twilight's shade. 
Wearied mortals the advent hail, 
Silent and calm, of the spirit pale ; 
His presence is pure — his breath is sweet 
To broken hearts that in agony beat. . 
But not alone to the race of men 
Comes th' oblivious being then — 
A charge more gentle he has to keep, 



m 



IN TENEBEIS. 25 



To touch the flowers with balmy sleep. 

Hidden in air from mortal view, 

The ground he sprinkles with drops of dew ; 

And the delicate essence of repose, 

In the cups of violet and rose 

And their sister plants, serenely flows. 

And as unto its mother's breast 

Turns the babe for its sweetest rest, 

So droop their sensitive leaves to earth, 

"Whose generous bosom gave them birth. 

Smiles the Spirit as falls his spell 

On the fragrant blossoms he loves so well ; 

And he calls his zephyr child to sigh 

Its music where they dreamless lie — 

And he summons the golden stars to shine 

With radiance hallowing and benign. 

Where the sleeping flowers together twine — 

And he floats above them with open wings, 

To guard them in their slumberings. 

Farewell ! fond Night ! my senses feel 
Nepenthe's languor o'er them steal. 
Come, Angel with the Lotus crown. 
Beloved, come ! I am thine own ! 



p ^ 



26 IN TEISTEBEIS. 



Above me tover — o'er my brow 
Let Lethe's rapturous waters flow ! 
Scatter the incense of thy breath 
Around, dear Brother of pale Death ! 
Give me to taste thy heavy cup 
With dark elixir bubbling up — 
And if thou wilt, transport me where 
Unhallowed beings haunt the air 
And faces hideous at me stare ! 
And all is horror — and 1 start 
At grim illusions, till my heart 
Quails with unutterable dread. 
Or suffer me, beloved, to tread 
Through scenes of beauty, where my feet 
Shall wander free o'er meadows sweet 
"With every flower, and music such 
As woke at Cynthius' soft touch, 
Its inspiration round me pour 
In long harmonious measures ; or 
Where'er thou wilt — and I will sleep 
Beneath thy wing — will laugh, or weep, 
Or mutter loud, or silence keep. 
As thou shalt bid me. O, divine 
Spirit somniferous ! I am thine ! 



m~ 



^/a/Zc .c/< ( ^ c^^^^ 




lb ^\ 

THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION, f 



OF THE 



tto f si Jfoternitg, 



AT 



COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, DECEMBER 6, 1859. 



BY 



CHA.S. F. RXJSSEL, 

OF NEW YORK. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE OONVENTIOK 



COLUMBIA 

STEAM-POWER PRESS O 









LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



lilliiiiiiliiliiililiij 



015 871 501 6 



\ . . 1 



